The soon to be launched facelifted Skoda Laura. EDIT : Now launched

[magikrider]

Skoda motors seems to be doing almost everything right all of a sudden. Firstly they bought the much awaited Fabia, then they launched the new fully loaded Superb almost 5 lakhs cheaper! And now the soon to be launched facelifted Laura! Looks like skoda has decided to go all guns blazing!

And now I have every reason to believe that the new laura will be fully loaded and yet cheaper than the current one!

I think that skoda guys have made their intentions very clear by pricing the new superb so competively. they no longer want to just be a niche player but have a bigger percentage of the market. As they already have two things required to be a hit.. One being great machines and the other being potential customers. Many people dont go for laura when they compete it with the accord. And so the accord was eating the share of laura as well as superb! But now skoda has taken care of it by launching fully loaded superb right in the accord territory. So now the price difference between the laura and superb is dangerously close! And if by going popular beliefe, skoda prices the facelifted laura higher than the current one, it will most possibly kill its own product - Laura! So I think there's been some brainstorming in the skoda and they are now going to price all its products reasonable, there by getting bigger share of the market and also not competing with its very own VW! So I believe that the new facelifted laura will be around 2-3 lakhs cheaper and finally give a fight to civic and altis. The fate of the octavia is unknown then. It can be priced between fabia & laura or phased out finally and the laura being sold as the octavia just like rest of the world!

and according to ACI, the facelifted laura will also come with the 1.8 TSI engine, heck.. that will cerainly kill the civic and the altis if priced right! because the laura will most certainly be fully loaded and have all the bells and whistles and will be way big on features compared to civic and the altis. and with that new 7 speed DSG and 160 BHP of power will ensure it will be a benchmark in performance in the segment and one cool quick car! should give most probably a sub 9 second 0-100kmph run. so that way you will get the old vRS performance without the vRS thirst! it can be a huge hit!

[Gagan.js]

No way in hell will the new laura ever be coming to my home or anyone else that I know. Heck no skoda car will ever be coming.
A cheap brand abroad being sold as premium here. And they are living up to their "cheap" image as discussed here many times.

Too many headaches with the brand, the Indian buyer will still go for civic/altis.
They don't care about power, they want snob value-comfort-cheap maintenance and most of all peace of mind. Everything that skoda's competition offers.

1.8Tsi engine and fully loaded, no way will that be in civic territory, it will be priced much higher, and most people will avoid it, except for enthusiasts who want the power, and are a minority.

and about doing everything right...what was so right about the fabia?

[frankmehta]

making a car cheap to buy is another thing, but Skoda rewrites the books when it comes to maintenance of their cars. skodas are the most expensive to run and fix! and God help you if you blow something!

[Max]

look at the thread above it, skoda dealer changes parts = consumer court = car not returned in a year. who is gonna buy laura?

[gaurav.28ch]

Yes sir plz take a look at this thread. I would refuse to take a Skoda even if gifted free by the company.

[loving_alaap]

Lower priced Laura!!

They will recover the money in maintenance.

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by gaurav.28ch

Yes sir plz take a look at this thread. I would refuse to take a Skoda even if gifted free by the company.

Even if they offer to maintain it for free who knows your parts will get taken away and replaced with spurious parts and you find your money being recovered in parts (giving a whole new meaning to EMI)

Cheers,

[throttleking]

Originally Posted by gaurav.28ch

Yes sir plz take a look at this thread. I would refuse to take a Skoda even if gifted free by the company.

i will not return the car, but i would sell it and buy something else in that money, something probably from chevy or TATA.

Skoda has been fooling indian customers since long, these small corrections would not help. Octavia (taxis in israel) is still there and Fabia is still priced ridiculously. And Laura is still Octavia worldwide.

Give us the new laura at the price of current octavia, we might start believing that skoda is changing.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by Max

look at the thread above it, skoda dealer changes parts = consumer court = car not returned in a year. who is gonna buy laura?

+1. They can bring it at 12L OTR, i would still be scared of buying a Skoda with all the horror stories here.

[joy_swift]

Originally Posted by Max

look at the thread above it, skoda dealer changes parts = consumer court = car not returned in a year. who is gonna buy laura?

Never a Skoda. If the company officials themselves are in collusion with unscrupulous dealers,you have nowhere to go

Also,acc to ACI mar,spare parts are ridiculously high. So ppl should never buy a Skoda although its a very competent car with superb DSG.

[danc]

Originally Posted by throttleking

Octavia (taxis in israel) is still there and Fabia is still priced ridiculously. And Laura is still Octavia worldwide.

Give us the new laura at the price of current octavia, we might start believing that skoda is changing.

I agree with the expectation on the price reduction, but a Laura starting at 12.49L ex showroom is a reasonably good price IMHO.

Regarding the other observations, I have seen 3 pointed stars as taxis in Germany and Malaysia, Volvos in Sweden, so a car/brand running as a Taxi does not make it a lesser one.

The other two points have also been discussed in many posts regarding the car makers taking Indian customers for granted in their pricing and launch strategies. Dies it have something to do with the economies of scales in this market? I don't know,

Cheers,

Danc

[GTO]

I'm sorry, but I see absolutely no point in buying a Skoda anymore. Especially after reading up on this Skoda owners experience (Skoda dealer changes parts in my car = Consumer Court = Car not returned in a YEAR!). What the hell does one do when the manufacturer abandons you? Fights you in court? All this after their official representative changes parts in your car with spurious ones? Who do I go to for service? What is the GUARANTEE that I will be taken care of, after spending 15 lakh rupees of my hard earned money? Such sub-standard shoddy service levels ought to be considered as a criminal offence.

Absolute RUBBISH! They can sell the damn Laura for 5 lakh rupees for all I care. I ain't buying.

[harry10]

+1 to that.
After reading that whole thread buying a Skoda becomes a huge gamble and atleast people who are aware of it will shy away.

[magikrider]

oh my goodness! this whole thread need to be renamed "I love to hate skoda!" I guess!
never knew that there are so many upset and tired customers of skoda. actually there are much much more scared potential customers than actual upset customers I believe. people have heard some horror skoda stories and start hating the brand and then they by the word of mouth caution other potential buyers, which is not wrong but I only think that people should stop being judgementle. because even though there are many skoda horror stories, there are also those x 100 or maybe even 1000 satisfied customer stories I am sure.
there cannot be so many skoda's seen on road otherwise.

and now someone who said that skoda is a inferior brand and used as taxi's in many countries... the only reason its being used as taxi's in those countries is not that they cant find a cheaper car but they think its reliable for extreme heavy use. do you know that the octavia used as taxi's in those countries have crossed 4-5 lac kms! I had seen a article in some auto magazine sometime back on this. the reporter was stunned as he saw most taxi octavia's had done 4-5 lac kms and when inquired he came to know that its common for a taxi there and also he reported that even after 4-5 lac kms the car was in pretty good shape and running as usual just like a car with 30-40k kms would! they had also shown the picture of the odometre with that insane milage done! now do you even expect a honda or a toyota to perform that well after 4-5 lac kms?! and again If I am not mistaken, it came in ACI or OD maybe 1-1.5 yrs back!

and what about the tank like built of the skoda's? I had seen a accident infront of me once and I was stunned. a old honda city banged a octy from behind and it made a big sound. the city was badly damaged and the bonnet was pushed inside, bumper destroyed. then the skoda owner came out and was about to shout but then he saw his car, and there was NOT EVEN A SCRATCH! and the city was badly damaged so he just took pity on the city driver and left without saying anything!

and I had also seen a horror story with honda which made me really think that nothing can be taken for granted. not even a honda! had seen a defected last-gen accord fully loaded with all steering controls malfunctioning since the day it was bought! the owner complained the dealer and the company several times but in vain. he did not get any proper answer and nothing was done to rectify the problem and so he was getting it done himself at a local garage! but it was not working even though they were trying for hours! the garage guy told that the owner is so tired of honda and he was also sueing the company for 10 lakhs for giving him a defective car! poor chap was fighting for almost a year and after paying 17-18 lakhs got sleepless nights! and mind you, I really think Honda Accord is a great car and the V6 had been my dream daily-car for quite long!

and its not that I hate honda or toyota. infact I love honda and would buy a Altis eyes closed in the 12 lac budget! but I also like skoda. all these brands have their pros and cons. and a few cars are bound to have issues when they are producing thousands of cars. skoda is high on maintenance but also high on performance and satisfaction! honda and toyota are worry free machines mostly and easy on pocket. and despite of all these horror stories, generally skoda and VW owners are the ones who make the decission with their heart!

I like the high revving honda's, Toyota reliability and jack of all nature, but I like the tank like built and DSG and all the amazing features that come with the skoda a little more. and do remember that the 2.0L RS octavia was judged the car of the year in UK and also its 2.0L, 200 BHP engine was judged as the engine of the year in 1.8-2.0L segment, both for 2 years straight! and I dont believe that honda and toyota badge has more snob value than skoda! no ways.. they are almost all on par, or maybe the skoda a little ahead if anything here in India! do you know that in US Honda's and Toyota's are considered cheap cars and VW has a better image. a honda has this boy-racer kinda image, toyota has a family guy's car image and the skoda has kind of a bad boy image!

[magikrider]

by the way my heart goes to harishv after reading the thread "Skoda dealer changes parts in my car = Consumer Court = Car not returned in a YEAR!" as suggested by GTO. All I can say that such incidents do not make the product bad but it shows the falws in our judicial system and the helplessness of the consumers! these big multinationals and even many national companies have understand the way the law works here and understood the loopholes and are exploiting them. the Honda Accord story which I have written below is also one such example. but maybe that owner did not care that much due to lack of time or that being just one of his many cars or something like that as he did not fight like our man harishv here and so it did not become so huge! but its time that we all understand our rights and give these big companies a fight till we get justice.